gbot13

Fresh rain made the forest smell fresh. The pine trees of the mountain pass were giving way to gentle, deciduous bushes and soft, earthy ground. No more rocks to deal with. Azrael ducked underneath a low branch and felt a shower of dew rain down on his back. The frost he had been sporting had already melted, leaving him dirty, soggy, and musty. A strong gust of wind blew down from the mountain and froze his backside miserably. He pushed on, feeling the air warm as he descended further into the lush forest. He passed a massive standing dead tree and took a moment to examine its pale, sunbleached bark. It should have fallen years ago by the looks of it. The tree itself appeared to be at least two hundred years old; the trunk was as wide as Azrael was long. He pawed at the base lightly, breaking up a mushy, termite-ridden old root. Another blast of frigid wind rushed past him and the tree swayed slowly. Azrael could have sworn he heard a crackling deep within the trunk of the tree.

His hands were... well, hands, but he only had two. And two legs with... with feet. Icefall scrambled onto his knees and groaned when his vision swam and a massive pressure behind his eyes throbbed. Instead of staying upright he continued forward and curled up on the ground, gripping his face, grabbing at his hair, doing anything to try and still the roar inside his brain. A human body. He was inside a human body. The pain passed after several long moments and he slowly uncurled to study his new form. His hands were smaller, and decidedly weaker, and they were a different color. He looked more like Lina without his pale fur, and as he sat up the silks and necklaces that had previously adorned him swung down around his stomach. They were much too large to wear now. He struggled onto his knees and shakily lifted the garments from around his neck. It was hard to balance, and one glance at his rump told him that he didn’t have a tail anymore. Figures. He reached a hand up to feel his